It may have happened all the way back in the 1990s (kids, ask your parents), but the saga of competitive ice skaters Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan still stands as one of the most memorable sporting scandals in modern history. Now Margot Robbie wants to bring Harding's side of the story to the screen in I, Tonya.
Harding was originally seen as a plucky underdog who rose from a rough, poverty-stricken childhood in Portland to become one of the top figure skaters in the United states. She became the first woman to complete the triple axel jump in big competitions and emerged victorious at the 1991 US Figure Skating Championships, going on to place second at the World Championships.
Then came the run up to the 1994 Olympics, where Harding conspired with her then-husband Jeff Gillooly to attack rival Nancy Kerrigan during qualifying rounds at the US Figure Skating Championships in Detroit, part of the selection process for the American Olympic team. Gillooly and co-conspirators Shawn Eckardt and Shane Stant figured out a plan of attack and Stant clubbed Kerrigan in the right knee, looking to break her leg. But she ended up merely bruised and part of the incident was captured on camera. Despite what would become known as The Whack Heard Round The World, Kerrigan still won a place on the Olympic team. She ended up with a silver medal and Harding, consumed by the scandal, placed eighth. She was eventually banned for life.
Steven Rogers has done the research for this one, talking with both Harding and Gillooly, and wrote the script that Robbie is now using. She's on the hunt for a director and is planning to produce and star as Harding.
Robbie will next be seen opposite Tina Fey in war correspondent comedy Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, due here on April 22, and is Harley Quinnin Suicide Squad, out on August 5.